CINCINNATI—Within just a few minutes of Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman’s arrival in the United States, Reds manager Dusty Baker had already overused and mangled the 21-year-old’s arm beyond recognition, team sources reported Sunday. Baker, who has been accused of overtaxing young pitchers’ arms in the past, reportedly greeted Chapman with a bucket of 250 baseballs and told him to “hurl them” as fast as he could, later encouraging the fastballer to “go nuts” with his pitching style. “He didn’t even let me stretch out first,” Chapman told reporters through an interpreter. “And when I started to wince from the pain and soreness, he just gave me a thumbs up, winked, and told me to keep throwing.” At press time, Chapman had already been to the hospital for an oblique strain, a torn rotator cuff, and his second Tommy John surgery of the week.

If I didn’t feel so bad for the kid, I would probably be laughing about it.  Who am I kidding?  I’m definitely laughing about it.  Here’s a lesson we Cubs fans can take away from this: Whenever you are frustrated about Lou Piniella just think about Dusty Baker.  I guarantee you’ll feel grateful.

“I know just from the experience of playing with those guys, and I’ve seen some of the mail that they get, obviously not a lot of us get that kind of mail,” Wood said on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “I didn’t, but there are people out there that got their beliefs.”

Wood said he saw some of the mail that was sent to former teammates LaTroy Hawkins, Jacque Jones and former manager Dusty Baker.

“It’s tough to sit there and read that,” Wood said, “and it’s tough to even understand what those players go through.”

Bradley accused fans of making racial taunts at Wrigley Field during the 2009 season, but he declined to give examples of specific incidents.

Now that Wood is saying it, all of a sudden people are starting to believe it just a little bit.  That in and of itself is a subtle (or not so subtle, depending on your point of view) form of racism.  What’s so unfortunate about this is that these players are not really hearing true, useful criticism.  Who sends ballplayers letters anyways?  If I were the one sending the letters, even if I was a racist, the fact that they were black would be the least of my concerns.  Dusty was a terrible manager, Hawkins blew way too many saves, Jones power went out after that first season and Bradley said all the wrong things at all the wrong times.  You know now that I think about it, I have some letters to send.  Does anyone have Kevin Gregg and Geovany Soto’s addresses?

“Nobody knows who it is going to affect and when it is going to affect anybody,” he said. “You deal with pressure every day in this game. People throw the money issue in your face all the time. There is a lot more coverage. It’s a high-pressure world.

“Sports is one of the few professionals where you reach your goal at a very young age,” Baker added. “Most guys reach their goals between their 40s and 50s. Maintaining a balance in your life can be a very tough thing. The game can become all-encompassing, day and night. It wakes you up in the middle of the night. It does me and I’m not even playing.”

“It’s tough to explain, tough to understand, tough to deal with,” he said.

Asked if he thought Votto some day would come forward and reveal his issues, Baker said, “That’s something I haven’t approached him with and I probably never would.”

That is actually a very interesting and deep take on baseball players situations.  It may be the most intelligent thing I have ever heard from Dusty.  And the way he handles Votto, just to be understanding, not call him out in the media, and of course to let him battle his own demons without making him come forward and reveal them, it kind of makes sense why the players love him.  Not only is he on their side, but this shows a compassionate, and wise, side of him that I’m sure many players can respect and look up to.

You’re not off the hook with me yet, Dusty, but it seems like you are at least a good guy.  None of this exonerates you for ruining Prior and Wood’s careers though.  Just so you know.

Wrigley seems like the last place an African-American player with such a well-traveled reputation for confrontations would choose to sign a multiyear contract. In the last five seasons alone, Cubs outfielder Jacque Jones and pitcher LaTroy Hawkins said they were the targets of racist taunts and fan mail. Jones also said in 2006 that he became the victim of racial slurs and threats on his cell phone when the number got out.

Former Cubs manager Dusty Baker said that same season that he received enough threatening, racist mail in Chicago that his wife and young son no longer would attend games.

This excerpt is from a piece trying desperately to link Bradley’s history of rage to racism at Wrigley Field. I have heard these rumors before, but as you can tell from the names named in that story, they were all during the Dusty Baker years.  Yeah, I’m implying what you think I’m implying.  I am not going to say that there aren’t racist Cubs fans, but I am going to imply that Dusty had a strange view of the world and may have brought those perceptions with him.

All that being said I really hope this kind of thing isn’t true.  How embarassing is that reputation for Cubs fans?

***UPDATE: I was speaking with my friend, reader Black Rob, about whether Cubs fans are racist or not in real life and not just in Dusty’s head.  Here was his reaction: 

“I’ve dealt with racist cubs fans, but not at wrigley.  Drunk assholes at the bars after the game.  It’s why I don’t go there anymore (Wrigleyville).  It’s what happens when drunk fratboys see a black kid that’s not dressed like a rapper.  It’s never been at Wrigley…I still love the Cubs and wrigley…I’m not going to let some drunk assholes ruin that for me, ya know?”" 

Rob is not a paranoid-type either, so I do trust what he is saying.  Perhaps this is just a few bad apples, but if it is true, I am hanging my head in shame as a Cubs fan.

In Chicago, he completely ruined Prior’s arm, riding him into the ground.  Wood always had mechanical and injury problems, but after a few years under Dusty, his arm almost completely fell off.  He was moved to the bullpen where he has had some success but his arm was never the same.  Zambrano is a horse, but even his arm has been unable to withstand the Dusty effect, as he has had a penchant for breaking down the last few seasons in the second half.

While the big 3 of Prior, Wood and Z are remembered by most people, but what about the 4th pitcher in that amazing rotation that got eaten up by Dusty?  That’s right, I’m talking about Matt Clement.  He was a stud pitcher for the Cubs from 2002-2004 under Dusty.  He threw what seemed like millions of pitches, as Baker left him in way too long night after night.  He went to Boston in 2005 and had an all-star season.  Surprise surprise, his arm began a slow decline of injury and fatigue after that.  Now it appears Clement is retiring after shoulder problems:

Matt Clement’s comeback has come to a close. The veteran pitcher informed the Blue Jays on Sunday that he plans to retire from baseball after spending the past three years attempting to return from right shoulder complications.

Attaboy Dusty.  Good luck Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto.  Oh and a little piece of advice: If you are on pitch number 156 and struggling in the 7th inning, don’t hold your breath waiting to get pulled.  Dusty just wants you to reach back a litttttle farther to get that last out.  Oh and grab a bat in the bottom half of the inning, because you are probably going back out for 1 more.